


Dogs Playing Poker, or How Lady Shoes Helped Ray Get a Clue

by Tex



Category: due South
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-05-23
Updated: 2010-05-23
Packaged: 2017-10-09 16:08:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/89219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tex/pseuds/Tex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An addition to the episode "Odds"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dogs Playing Poker, or How Lady Shoes Helped Ray Get a Clue

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers: Odds. AU; established relationship  
> SOME DIALOGUE TAKEN DIRECTLY FROM THE DUE SOUTH EPISODE "ODDS".  
> My very late story for the rayk97s. Thanks to my ultra-wise friend, Lamardeuse, for a very fast beta. You're my hero!

 

Dogs Playing Poker  
or How Lady Shoes helped Ray get a Clue

**Lyrics** \- _From Question -_  
Some day somebody's gonna ask you  
A question that you should say yes to

 

 

There is something terribly wrong about poodles, Ray decides. The bows, their big, puffed up hair that's like a bag of cotton balls on crack, the painted toenails. That is just fucking creepy.

And what the hell kind of name is Ante anyway? Dogs are supposed to be named Buddy or Chopper or even Diefenbaker. Ray almost feels sorry for the poor mutt.

But before he can spend a lot of time on it, there is a big bang and he is watching Fraser dive out a window.

* * *

Ray grins at the look on Fraser's face. "Please. Don't tell me you gotta thing for her."

"Who?"

"You know who," Ray says with a smirk. "Lady Shoes."

"I don't know her," Fraser says, looking all earnest, but it doesn't fool Ray for a second.

"Exactly. And you never will." At least, if Ray has anything to do with it. It's not that he doesn't know that Fraser still digs girls. Ray does, too, it was just that…well, things are a little different now.

They've only been doing this -- whatever this is – for a few weeks now. There was always this hot vibe between him and Fraser, but things get kicked into high gear after Luanne Russell. After Ray blew it and whined about how he could have been with her instead of camping in the middle of Chicago with Fraser and Dief. After Fraser told him to shut up and kissed him.

It's not a fuck buddy situation. At least, it isn't for Ray and he's pretty sure it's not that for Fraser, either. And if they aren't fuck buddies, there's only one alternative and Ray's not sure he wants to go there.

The problem is Ray keeps having a strong urge to give Fraser his ID bracelet and that really freaks him out. So he just keeps going and hopes that he and Fraser will never, ever have to talk about this.

When they get back in the car, Fraser groans and carefully eases himself into the seat. He shifts around a little and his back makes a cracking sound that makes Ray wince.

"You okay?" Ray asks.

"I'll be fine. A little heat and self massage will do wonders."

"Is this gonna mess up our love life?"

Fraser looks over at him, his eyes suddenly dark. And for a second, Ray doesn't get it.

Then, Ray starts the car, his face hot. He tries to think of a comeback but he's got nothing.

Well, fuck. Look who just said the 'L' word.

* * *

Fraser had the bright idea of letting the two mutts lead them to Scarpa after she escaped. And of course, it worked. When the elevator doors close, Ray looks over at Fraser and smiles at him. Fraser starts to smile back and then, thinks better of it and looks straight ahead.

"Ray. We're working."

"I know we're working. Can't I smile at you without you getting ideas?"

"No."

"You have a very dirty mind, Fraser."

Their car makes a stop to let someone on and then off again and once they are alone, Fraser clears his throat. "Ray, did I mention that you look very fetching in that suit?"

Ray grins without taking his eyes off the flashing numbers above the door. "Thanks, buddy."

* * *

Ray hits the pavement hard and in seconds, Fraser joins him. "Damnit, Fraser, if you were gonna drop a guy, you gotta say something first, like, Ray, I'm gonna drop you."

"I'm sorry, Ray, but with my back being the way it is, it was extremely difficult to hang on."

"Okay, I guess I'll let it go this time." He gets to his feet. It's harder than it should be and Ray wonders if he's finally getting too old for this shit.

Fraser's back makes more of those loud cracking sounds so Ray reaches down to help him up, grabbing Fraser's left hand in the secure grip of his right.Once they are both standing, it takes him a few seconds to realize that Fraser's not letting him go. They are standing there, in the middle of Chicago, holding hands. The weird part is that Ray and Fraser have been doing some pretty hot stuff lately but there's something really intimate about doing this. It makes Ray think about the ID bracelet again.

Without really thinking about it, Ray's hand tightens around Fraser's. Fraser turns his head and he sort of smiles, but it comes more from his eyes than from his mouth. Ray's heart clenches and he opens his mouth. He's going to say something, something important…

But before Ray can get to it, Fraser gives his hand a squeeze and then lets it go.

* * *

"Fraser, uh, you know what the hell you're doing?" Ray is under control. He is cool. Ray is definitely not jealous. So, yeah, normally, he'd think a long-legged, beautiful woman like Denny Scarpa in long red underwear would be a hot thing to behold but tonight, this woman is seriously starting to piss him off.

"What is it you think I'm doing?"

He can't believe the look on Fraser's face, like he has no idea what they are NOT talking about. The woman, the card shark, is in Fraser's underwear and just what the fuck is Ray supposed to think here? Ray is feeling like a boyfriend right now and just -- Jesus.

"It's purely a matter of practicality, Ray. Her clothes were not particularly conducive to sleeping."

Ray has to unclench his teeth to answer him. "Oh, so you just had to take'em off."

"No, she managed that all by herself."

Maybe this is payback for the thing with Luanne Russell. Maybe Fraser is getting back at him because he kissed Luanne and trailed after her for a few days. Or maybe, Fraser is just being Fraser.

The more he thinks about it, the more Ray…doesn't want to think about it at all.

* * *

After Fraser's poker lesson, he disappears for a while and Ray finally finds him in the men's room, splashing water on his face.Fraser looks up when Ray comes in and meets Ray's stare in the mirror. "You know, my father used to say…"

Ray mostly loses interest at that point because he doesn't want to hear anything that Bob Fraser used to say. All Ray's interested in is keeping Fraser safe. And he tries, he tries his best to illustrate the point with a pathetic story from his past but still, Fraser's got his justice face on and Ray knows nothing is going to stop him. Ray's got a hunch about this poker game. And it's not a good one. Not that it's the first time that he's had to watch Fraser walk into a shitload of danger. It's just that … it's different now.

He looks at Fraser in the mirror, because looking at him straight on makes Ray want to grab onto him with both hands and not let go.

"You telling me everything?" Ray asks and his voice is nearly a whisper. "You can back out, you know."

Fraser barely shakes his head. "No, I can't do that."

Ray frowns and nods, because yeah, he knows that. More than that, he knows Fraser.

Ray hesitates for a second. Then, he puts his hand on the back of Fraser's neck and gives him a quick, hard kiss on the lips. "Be careful," Ray says on the way out.

* * *

He finds a place among the government suits and keeps his eyes glued to the video feed. Ray is jumpy and tense, which is not much different from the way Ray usually is but he hardly breathes, even after the door opens and Fraser walks into the room.

Fraser looks fucking amazing in that tux and Ray can't help but smile a little. There is a jolt of possessive heat in his gut and as Fraser sits down, the same words keep running through Ray's head - that's mine, mine.

Of course, Fraser wins the first hand but after that, things start to go south fast. As soon as Ray realizes what's going on, and what Fraser has been hiding, he bolts out of the room and makes his way to the roof.Nobody in the room below has spotted him but that means Fraser hasn't, either. Farah's eyes are darting first at Fraser, then at Scarpa and then at his bodyguard and Ray gets up on his haunches, ready to spring.

"Come on, Fraser," Ray whispers, his hands getting sweaty against the cool glass of the skylight, "Give me a sign that you know I'm here." It takes forever, but it comes in time and then, Ray is falling feet first. He comes down hard but Ray's eyes lock with Fraser's for just a couple of seconds. Fraser's okay and Ray can breathe again.

* * *

There is stuff to clear up in triplicate with the Feds so while they are waiting to get cleared, Fraser gets out a deck of cards.Ray is bone-tired, coming down off an adrenaline rush the size of Lake Erie, but it's going to take more than that to take the edge off of his good mood. Ray can even smile when Fraser admits that Lady Shoes kissed him.

"What was it like?" he asks, grinning a little because now that she's going to be in jail for a long, long time, Ray realizes that that is kind of hot.

"The kiss? Delightful."

Ray gives Fraser's knee a nudge with his own, without taking his eyes off his cards. Delightful, huh?

* * *

Ray shoves Fraser down on the bed and crawls on top of him. Ray kisses Fraser, hard and hungry, roughly nudging Fraser's legs further apart and grinding against him, until Fraser makes that sound, that growling, turned-on sound that always makes Ray's dick throb.

"How's that, Fraser, huh?" Ray asks in a voice he doesn't recognize as his because its low and almost shaking. Ray reaches down between them and squeezes Fraser's dick. Fraser squirms and grabs Ray's head and kisses him some more, until Ray decides to break it off.

"Is this delightful, Fraser?" Ray licks a hot line across Fraser's throat, sucking hard on the smooth place where his shoulder and his neck connect. Ray goes to work getting the tux pants undone, knocking Fraser's hands away when he tries to help. "This delightful enough for you?"

"Ray," Fraser groans, "God, Ray, please." Fraser pulls Ray's dress shirt up to his armpits, and rubs his thumbs over Ray's nipples. Ray sucks in his breath, because Christ, that feels so good. He's so hard, Ray feels like his dick is going to bust his zipper and he starts to doubt that either one of them will get naked before somebody comes and comes hard.

Fraser won't keep still. Even though Ray's straddling him, Fraser pulls at him, arching up, trying to get Ray on top of him and Fraser is so hot when he's impatient like that. It makes Ray's whole body tingle with the need to come, to come right fucking now…

Ray gives up on the pants, his and Fraser's. He yanks up Fraser's shirt and stretches out on Fraser's restless body, getting the skin-to-skin contact that he has been craving. Ray starts to move, a full body stroking. Oh, God, how has he gone nearly 40 years without knowing this feels so fucking good? How has he wasted so much time asking the right questions of the wrong people?

"No more, Fraser." Ray says it, even though it makes his face hot and he doesn't know how Fraser will react. Ray closes his eyes and presses his cheek against Fraser's, his hips moving faster, harder. "No more -- delightful kisses, okay? Just -- this – oh, fuck, just – us…" Ray struggles to get it out because his orgasm is rolling over him, pulling him under and holding him there, until Fraser arches up against him, his hands fisting in Ray's best and only dress shirt, Fraser's mouth open and hot against Ray's neck.

Ray shifts off to the side, Fraser turns toward him and they resettle tight against each other. Ray is still panting, still kissing Fraser, and still feeling the weight of that question that he'd thrown out there, sitting like a weight on his chest.

Fraser smiles against one of Ray's kisses and Ray pulls back. "What?" he asks with a smile of his own.

He feels the vibrations of Fraser's laugh against his chest. "I believe I'll need to have this tux cleaned before returning it to Detective Huey."

"Probably a good idea." Ray kisses Fraser, soft and with promise. "Fraser? What I said? Before, I mean – about us?" He swallows hard. "What do you think?"

Fraser grins and rolls over on top of Ray, touching Ray's face with one hand and kissing him until Ray is gasping.

Fraser begins to brush slow, tender kisses down Ray's neck and when he keeps going, past Ray's collarbone, over Ray's heart and against each of his ribs, Ray groans out loud. "I'll take that as a yes," Ray says before it begins all over again.


End file.
